By J Mulraj
Saturday, September 8, 2012
Nouriel Roubini warns of the perfect financial storm. He says that the US is in danger of tipping over a fiscal cliff, once it hits the debt ceiling. Europe is in recession and will stay in one for a decade. China's growth has slowed to 7%, which is low enough to warrant a danger of social unrest and rioting. To add to this discouraging potpourri is the risk of an attack by Israel on Iran's nuclear facilities. According to Haaretz, Prime Minister Netanyahu believes Iran to be just 4 to 8 weeks from producing a nuclear bomb.
Privy Purse reintroduced ???
The Maharajas of erstwhile princely states of
India traded their independence, and joined the Indian Union, when India gained
independence from the British, with a promise, in return, to get a privy purse,
or an annual payment, in compensation. These privy purses were abolished in 1971
through a constitutional amendment.
We now discover that the privy purses were never abolished, only the recipients are different. The fruits of power are bestowed on the political class, and all of them, in varying degrees, are beneficiaries of it. Last week we saw that the kith and kin of political leaders such as Vijay Darda and Subodh Kant Sahay, of the Congress, S Jagatrakshakan of DMK and Prem Chand Gupta of RJD were awarded rights to mine coal.
We now discover that the privy purses were never abolished, only the recipients are different. The fruits of power are bestowed on the political class, and all of them, in varying degrees, are beneficiaries of it. Last week we saw that the kith and kin of political leaders such as Vijay Darda and Subodh Kant Sahay, of the Congress, S Jagatrakshakan of DMK and Prem Chand Gupta of RJD were awarded rights to mine coal.
one secret formula of earning whopping return
Each and every one of us wants that one secret formula of earning whopping returns on our investments. If anyone stated otherwise, he/she is obviously lying. But while most investment gurus discuss the philosophies of how to earn these bumper returns, no one really gives out their secret formula. They would talk about the general process followed. Or give examples of their own successes. However the secret formula remains exactly what the name suggests - a big secret.
As a result most investors keep running from one site to another, from one book to another in the search of this formula. For such investors there is a book they can refer to if they wish to learn the formula of successful investing. This book is written by a gentleman named Joel Greenblatt and goes by the name of "The Little Black Book that Beats the Market". Written in simple language that is easy to understand, Mr Greenblatt takes his readers step by step on how they could form a portfolio of stocks. This portfolio construction is his secret formula for successful investing that he shares with his readers.
His formula is simple and aims at selecting stocks that deliver high returns on assets and are trading at low PE multiples. After identifying the stocks for the portfolio he even gives the way to maintain the portfolio in order to maximize returns. But if one goes through the examples he has used, one thing becomes blatantly obvious. His formula for success works only when applied in a disciplined manner over a long term. If you think that you can follow a disciplined life of investing and want to earn high returns, then you should go ahead and read this book. by J Mulraj
Surprise move for foreigners-India mulls exemption of PAN for foreign investors
India mulls exemption of PAN for foreign investors directly investing in capital markets
by Deepshikha Sikarwar, ET Bureau Sep 7, 2012, 06.44AM IST
NEW DELHI: India may exempt individual foreign investors and trusts that invest directly in the capital markets from the need to acquire a Permanent Account Number (PAN), a mandatory requirement for all tax payers. In January this year the government allowed individual foreign investors, such as family offices that manage the investments of wealthy families, to invest directly in Indian debt and equity through the qualified investor route (QFI).
Cracking the drug discovery code The 10-month-old start-up is helping pharma companies smoothen the process of drug discovery Prashant K. Nanda
New Delhi: The barely 160 sq. ft room inside the synergy building at the
Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, has nothing extraordinary about it. It is
occupied by a few brochures portraying the brain, two posters, six computers and
an equal number of people—all in their 20’s.
The room is the office of Novo Informatics Pvt. Ltd (NI), a 10-month-old start-up that is helping pharmaceutical firms smoothen the process of drug discovery and significantly reduce the time involved in this.
Driven by a passion to do something of significance on their own, some students and alumni of IIT-D joined hands to set up NI with a capital base of a little more than Rs. 3 lakh. The company aims to create a software to facilitate “target discovery” that helps cut the cost and time required in delivering drugs to the market.
The lifesciences-based research and development firm hopes to garner a revenue of $20,000 by 10 April, when it will complete a year. By April 2013, it aims to have an annual revenue of $135,000.
The enterprise, a spin-off from the Supercomputing Facility for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology (SCFBio), a research lab at IIT-D under the guidance of professor B. Jayaram, has a virtual library of 13 million drug-like molecules collected from open source platforms or designed in-house using computational methods.
“We are exploring science for better healthcare. Our company is doing two things—focusing on target discovery at genomic and proteomics level for diseases, and simultaneously screening for lead molecules for our clients from our molecule library,” said Avinash Mishra, director and co-founder of NI. He was earlier working with AstraZeneca, a British pharmaceutical and biologics company.
Mishra, a doctoral student at IIT, is from a modest middle-class family in Patna, Bihar.
“Students from middle-class families always wish to achieve something. They don’t want their next generation to face problems as they have. I am no different,” said Mishra, whose mother works in the electricity board of the Bihar government after his father expired.
And certainly, this thought binds his co-partners Madhup Benawat and Sahil Kapoor to work harder to finally see a day when all of them can produce a “novel drug molecule” and take it to the market as a drug. “These are initial days but we want to make our company an integrated one, when we can design a target molecule, experiment it in wet-lab (physical lab), do animal trials, human trials and finally take it to the market,” explained Kapoor, the son of a doctor in Amritsar, Punjab.
Kapoor, who for a brief period worked with Dr Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd, feels three people helped him zero in on this venture: his father offering free treatment to common people, a dedicated senior in at his previous workplace Dr Reddy’s, and Jayaram.
What about the partners? “We three think alike. My partners Madhup and Avinash are fantastic scientific brains. So we may be young minds but what we do, we do it with perfection.”
NI has already given a pharma company a molecule after screening it through its library. “It took the team eight months to service the international client,” Kapoor said, but didn’t divulge the name of the firm or the disease it is working on. “These are pretty confidential parts of the agreement.”
So what exactly do they do for their clients?
The partners explain that when a pharmaceutical firm gives them a target, they screen through 13 million drug-like molecules through computational methods to reach the 1,000 molecule mark, which is then further filtered to 100 and finally 10.
“We give the 10 best options to the client and are quite confident that one of these will be the lead molecule. After that, the client is free to do wet-lab experimentation before going to the trial stage,” explained Benawat, who is in the final year of his dual degree programme in chemical engineering at IIT.
Kapoor said the process can reduce the time of searching for a lead molecule by 50%.
Along with the 10 best molecules based on computational validity, the company gives clients 10 details of the lead molecule, including its toxicity and binding report, the groups involved and whether it is patentable or not. The accuracy level of their computational validation is above 90%, he claims.
Mishra said NI is entering its expansion phase and seeking to forge more partnerships with pharma firms, research scientists and medical chemists. He said though they are growing, the main challenge is to convince established scientists about the benefits of the computational method.
“Convincing the scientists to adopt the computational method is the key challenge. When you explain the computational method they resist because they have come from strong experimental (physical) lab model,” he said, adding that they are explaining how through specialized software they can screen the molecules better and quicker.
“We are not saying that it’s a replacement to wet-lab. But computational biological research is supplementary and can cut cost by reducing time required for molecule screening process,” Mishra explained.
The second challenge is the cost. Some scientists who can avail the service say that the computational method is a bit expensive. “But we cannot run on a loss,” said Kapoor, adding that the fee ranges from $2,000 to $1 million. “It depends on what exactly a client demands.”
Ask them about the funding and all the three acknowledge funding is key for their expansion and they are in touch with some venture capital funds and angle investor networks to raise funds.
“Finally, we dream to become a genome-to-drug company,” said Kapoor.
Mint is a strategic partner of National Entrepreneurship Network, which hosts Tata First Dot.
prashant.n@livemint.com
Team at work: Co-founders of Novo
Informatics Sahil Kapoor (left), Avinash Mishra (centre) and Madhup Benawat.
Photo: Pradeep Gaur/Mint.
The room is the office of Novo Informatics Pvt. Ltd (NI), a 10-month-old start-up that is helping pharmaceutical firms smoothen the process of drug discovery and significantly reduce the time involved in this.
Driven by a passion to do something of significance on their own, some students and alumni of IIT-D joined hands to set up NI with a capital base of a little more than Rs. 3 lakh. The company aims to create a software to facilitate “target discovery” that helps cut the cost and time required in delivering drugs to the market.
The lifesciences-based research and development firm hopes to garner a revenue of $20,000 by 10 April, when it will complete a year. By April 2013, it aims to have an annual revenue of $135,000.
The enterprise, a spin-off from the Supercomputing Facility for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology (SCFBio), a research lab at IIT-D under the guidance of professor B. Jayaram, has a virtual library of 13 million drug-like molecules collected from open source platforms or designed in-house using computational methods.
“We are exploring science for better healthcare. Our company is doing two things—focusing on target discovery at genomic and proteomics level for diseases, and simultaneously screening for lead molecules for our clients from our molecule library,” said Avinash Mishra, director and co-founder of NI. He was earlier working with AstraZeneca, a British pharmaceutical and biologics company.
Mishra, a doctoral student at IIT, is from a modest middle-class family in Patna, Bihar.
“Students from middle-class families always wish to achieve something. They don’t want their next generation to face problems as they have. I am no different,” said Mishra, whose mother works in the electricity board of the Bihar government after his father expired.
And certainly, this thought binds his co-partners Madhup Benawat and Sahil Kapoor to work harder to finally see a day when all of them can produce a “novel drug molecule” and take it to the market as a drug. “These are initial days but we want to make our company an integrated one, when we can design a target molecule, experiment it in wet-lab (physical lab), do animal trials, human trials and finally take it to the market,” explained Kapoor, the son of a doctor in Amritsar, Punjab.
Kapoor, who for a brief period worked with Dr Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd, feels three people helped him zero in on this venture: his father offering free treatment to common people, a dedicated senior in at his previous workplace Dr Reddy’s, and Jayaram.
What about the partners? “We three think alike. My partners Madhup and Avinash are fantastic scientific brains. So we may be young minds but what we do, we do it with perfection.”
NI has already given a pharma company a molecule after screening it through its library. “It took the team eight months to service the international client,” Kapoor said, but didn’t divulge the name of the firm or the disease it is working on. “These are pretty confidential parts of the agreement.”
So what exactly do they do for their clients?
The partners explain that when a pharmaceutical firm gives them a target, they screen through 13 million drug-like molecules through computational methods to reach the 1,000 molecule mark, which is then further filtered to 100 and finally 10.
“We give the 10 best options to the client and are quite confident that one of these will be the lead molecule. After that, the client is free to do wet-lab experimentation before going to the trial stage,” explained Benawat, who is in the final year of his dual degree programme in chemical engineering at IIT.
Kapoor said the process can reduce the time of searching for a lead molecule by 50%.
Along with the 10 best molecules based on computational validity, the company gives clients 10 details of the lead molecule, including its toxicity and binding report, the groups involved and whether it is patentable or not. The accuracy level of their computational validation is above 90%, he claims.
Mishra said NI is entering its expansion phase and seeking to forge more partnerships with pharma firms, research scientists and medical chemists. He said though they are growing, the main challenge is to convince established scientists about the benefits of the computational method.
“Convincing the scientists to adopt the computational method is the key challenge. When you explain the computational method they resist because they have come from strong experimental (physical) lab model,” he said, adding that they are explaining how through specialized software they can screen the molecules better and quicker.
“We are not saying that it’s a replacement to wet-lab. But computational biological research is supplementary and can cut cost by reducing time required for molecule screening process,” Mishra explained.
The second challenge is the cost. Some scientists who can avail the service say that the computational method is a bit expensive. “But we cannot run on a loss,” said Kapoor, adding that the fee ranges from $2,000 to $1 million. “It depends on what exactly a client demands.”
Ask them about the funding and all the three acknowledge funding is key for their expansion and they are in touch with some venture capital funds and angle investor networks to raise funds.
“Finally, we dream to become a genome-to-drug company,” said Kapoor.
Mint is a strategic partner of National Entrepreneurship Network, which hosts Tata First Dot.
prashant.n@livemint.com
Procedure & Documents Required for Service Tax Registration
Procedure & Documents Required for Service Tax Registration
CA Ajay Agrawal
Procedure for Service Tax Registration
1. The assessee shall make an application in form ST 1 to the Superintendent of Central Excise in duplicate. Such application can be filed online www.aces.gov.in. For this the following procedure shall be adhered to :
a) The user shall first log onto the site aces.gov.in and select “Service Tax” option on the left side of the screen
b) He shall then register himself by clicking on “New users to click here to register with ACES” option. On clicking the same he will be required to give certain basic details and a e-mail id. The password for such registration will be sent to this mail id.
c) On submitting the form the password will be sent to the ID above and the user shall login into ACES with this password. Such a password is only to gain access to ACES and it does not imply that registration with the department is done.
d) In the case of an existing assessee, he shall fill in the “Declaration Form for ACES” (in Appendix I) and submit it to the respective commissionerate. The assessee will then receive a user ID and password at the mail ID specified in such form to activate his registration number in ACES. An existing assessee is NOT required to fill Form ST-1 again in ACES.
e) For a new assessee who does not have a service tax registration certificate, shall register with ACES with the ID and password that is sent as mentioned in ‘c’ above and select the option “REG” and “Fill ST-1”.
f) The form shall be filed online with all the required details and submitted online itself.
g) A print of the form submitted online shall be taken and along with this the documents as mentioned below shall be submitted to the department at the concerned commissionerate.
2. The application shall be filed within 30 days from the date of providing taxable service and shall bear the address sought to be registered.
3. The application should be filled up carefully without errors and columns and boxes which are not applicable may contain “NA” stated across them. All the taxable services provided should be mentioned on the application and there would not be separate applications for each of such taxable services
4. The Form should be signed by the director/partner/sole proprietor as the case may be or the authorized signatory. Once filed, the acknowledgement for having filed the application is to be obtained on the duplicate copy for one’s own reference. If the Particulars stated in the Form are correct, then the registration certificate would be provided within a period of seven days.
Where not so provided, the registration is deemed to have been granted.
Centralized registration
Centralised registration is opted for in a case where the accounting and billing operations of the assessee are centralized in an administrative office which may be a branch or Head Office despite the services being provided from more than one location. The premises that is registered here is the one where the centralized accounting and billing is done. This decision is at the option of the tax payer and he can also opt to have multiple registration which however may not be advisable. The procedure would be the same as explained above with a few exceptions -
◦The registration in case of centralized registration would be granted by the Commissioner of Central Excise having jurisdiction over the centralized premises.
◦The registration formality at the department’s end takes a little longer than the period stated above and the concept of deemed registration need not apply here.
The following documents are required in addition to the documents needed under the aforesaid procedure -
a) Proof of address of each such premises or branches for which centralized registration is sought
b) Proof of address of branches, new offices opened if any
c) In case of the Centralised Registration Annexures as per the Trade Notice no. 03/2011-12-ST dated 20/10/2011 are also required to be submitted.
Normally 15-20 days are required to issue the ST reg Certificate under the Centralised Reg, as compared to 1-2 days for single premised registration
Documents Required for Service Tax Registration
The application shall be accompanied by copies of the following documents -
· Self certified copy of PAN, (where allotment is pending, copy of the application for PAN may be given).
· Copy of MOA/AOA in case of Companies
· Copy of Board Resolution in case of Companies
· Copy of Lease deed/Rental agreement of the premises
· A brief technical write up on the services provided
· Registration certificate of Partnership firm / Partnership Deed
· Copy of a valid Power of Attorney where the owner/MD/Managing Partner does not file the application
. Power of Attorney in favor of the Consultant (POA)
Format of power of Attorney for Service tax Registration :-
Name ( or letterhead) of the Landlord/ Assessee
Address
By this Power of attorney executed at Mumbai at this _____ day of _______ 2012, we ________________(name of the client). hereby nominate, constitute and appoint, Mr.___________ and / or representative of M/s. ABC Chartered Accountants, Address _________________________________________________________, as attorney for our behalf t o do or file/execute/collect service tax registration certificate or any of the acts or things in connection with the service tax and also t o collect the Service Tax Registration Certificate.
And we hereby agree to ratify and confirm all and whatsoever attorney shall do.
Yours truly,
For ____________________
(Properietor/ Partners/ Directors/Authorised Signatory)
German sports goods maker Adidas AG which has 900 stores in India is moving its Reebok business in India to a cash-and-carry model to protect itself from further losses in domestic operations. As a part of this exercise, the company is understood to have given its franchisees an ultimatum to move to the new system by nov end.
On January 4, 2010, Roshan Lal, a resident of Indore, sent a note, written in Hindi, to the National Housing Bank, requesting it to look into housing bonds issued by two companies of the Lucknow-headquartered Sahara group, Sahara India Real Estate Corporation and Sahara Housing Investment Corporation. Being a chartered accountant, Lal wrote in the small note, he found that the bonds, bought by a large number of investors, were not issued according to the rules. The National Housing Bank did not have the wherewithal to investigate the allegation, so it forwarded the letter to the Securities and Exchange Board of India, or Sebi, the capital markets regulator. That note set in motion a chain of events that resulted in the Supreme Court ordering the two companies on August 31 to return the money they had raised through the bonds — Rs 24,029 crore — to the 29.6 million investors, along with interest (15 per cent per annum).
MP-protesting in neck deep water
Associated Press
Women from Ghogal
village in Madhya Pradesh standing in water demanding compensation and
rehabilitation for villagers displaced by the Omkareshwar dam in the state. They
have been protesting in neck deep water since Aug. 25.
Friday, September 7, 2012
Take side of conservationists fighting for survival of 300-odd Narcondam hornbills
Narcondam hornbill. Photo: Special Arrangement
TRANSFORMING INDIANS TO TRANSFORM INDIA (TITI) Hari Aum! Please click the link below for the coverage that we got in Yahoo International platform about the TITI launched by Chinmaya Mission all over the country. Hari Aum! Please preview the news published in yahoo international platform. http://in.news.yahoo.com/video/true-patriotism-lies-knowledge-country-151200554.html Hari Aum!
Gold as an investment is recommended. However the exposure is to be limited to 10-15% of your total corpus. But investment in gold in the form of jewellery is not recommended. The cost you pay to invest in gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or gold funds is way too less than the cost you pay in the form of making charges. In addition, you need to be careful about the quality/purity of the jewellery you buy. It is prudent to stick to gold ETFs or funds.
Goecha La IN SIKKIM
Goecha La or Goecha Pass is a Himalayan mountain pass
in the state of Sikkim. At an elevation of 16,200 ft, Goecha La serves as the
gateway to Kanchenjunga, the third highest mountain in the world.
Trek to Goecha La figures high on the must visit destinations for trekker because of the thrill it provides. The heady mix of adventure and scenic vistas lures many a trekker. Goecha La serves as base camp for those who want to scale the Kanchenjunga.
Goecha is not connected by roads which have protected its pristine nature. Goecha is over 50 km from Yuksom, the nearest road head. The south east face of Kanchenjunga is visible from the Goecha La.
Indian travellers to Goecha La need to register themselves with Yuksom. A guide is required to navigate you through the difficult terrain. The trek to Goecha La and back to Yuksom takes about a week. Foreign travellers need permission and are allowed to travel only in groups.
There are important points to stop for resting and refreshments on the way to Goecha La. Sachen, Bakkhim, Tshoka, Phedang, Dzongri, Kokchurong, Thansing and Lamuney are important stopovers between Yuksom and Goecha La.
The trek winds through dense forests which gives way to alpine meadows known as ‘bugyals’. The terrain changes as you reach closer towards Goecha La. You encounter rocky terrain with a wide variety of woody, evergreen and deciduous plants with vibrant colours that look their best in the month of May.
Trekking in Sikkim and especially to the Goecha La is unique. The trails are beautiful, the people you meet on the trek are wonderful and the culture that you witness is something unparalleled.
The trek to Goecha La is a very romantic as it takes you through the Tshoka rhododendron forests, beautiful meadows and icy trails.
Trek to Goecha La figures high on the must visit destinations for trekker because of the thrill it provides. The heady mix of adventure and scenic vistas lures many a trekker. Goecha La serves as base camp for those who want to scale the Kanchenjunga.
Goecha is not connected by roads which have protected its pristine nature. Goecha is over 50 km from Yuksom, the nearest road head. The south east face of Kanchenjunga is visible from the Goecha La.
Indian travellers to Goecha La need to register themselves with Yuksom. A guide is required to navigate you through the difficult terrain. The trek to Goecha La and back to Yuksom takes about a week. Foreign travellers need permission and are allowed to travel only in groups.
There are important points to stop for resting and refreshments on the way to Goecha La. Sachen, Bakkhim, Tshoka, Phedang, Dzongri, Kokchurong, Thansing and Lamuney are important stopovers between Yuksom and Goecha La.
The trek winds through dense forests which gives way to alpine meadows known as ‘bugyals’. The terrain changes as you reach closer towards Goecha La. You encounter rocky terrain with a wide variety of woody, evergreen and deciduous plants with vibrant colours that look their best in the month of May.
Trekking in Sikkim and especially to the Goecha La is unique. The trails are beautiful, the people you meet on the trek are wonderful and the culture that you witness is something unparalleled.
The trek to Goecha La is a very romantic as it takes you through the Tshoka rhododendron forests, beautiful meadows and icy trails.
Tips
- Indian nationals need to register themselves at Yuksom police station before proceeding towards Goecha La. A photo identity proof and three photocopies are required for the permit.
- A fee needs to be paid at the forest check. The fee includes the charges for tent and porter.
- Foreign nationals need to register themselves at state capital Gangtok.
- Foreign nationals also have to avail the services of a government approved agency for the trek. Permit and other documents will be managed by the agency.
- Foreigners are also required to trek in a group. The group strength can range from two to ten.
Where to stay
There are no places to stay at the Goecha La except for tented accommodations. Most trekkers carry tents and sleeping bags.Where to eat
There are no eateries in Goecha La except for tea stalls that sell tea and biscuits. Carrying food during the trek is always a good idea.Best time to visit
The best time to visit Goecha La is between September to November and again between March and April. These two periods are favorable as the temperature remains at comfortable levels.Thursday, September 6, 2012
Green tea can improve your memory: study
The Hindu Green tea has
many health benefits like better memory and learning skills.
Chemicals found in green tea can boost your memory and learning
skills, a new study has found.
Researchers from the Third Military Medical University, Chongqing,
China found that chemical properties of green tea affect the generation of brain
cells, providing benefits for memory and spatial learning.
Scientists said it has long been believed that drinking green tea
is good for the memory.
Spatial memory is the part of memory responsible for recording
information about one’s environment and its spatial orientation.
“There has been plenty of scientific attention on its use in
helping prevent cardiovascular diseases, but now there is emerging evidence that
its chemical properties may impact cellular mechanisms in the brain,” Professor
Yun Bai said.
The study focussed on the organic chemical EGCG,
(epigallocatechin—3 gallate) a key property of green tea.
While EGCG is a known anti—oxidant, the team believed it can also
have a beneficial effect against age—related degenerative diseases.
“We proposed that EGCG can improve cognitive function by impacting
the generation of neuron cells, a process known as neurogenesis,” said Bai in a
statement.
“We focused our research on the hippocampus, the part of the brain
which processes information from short—term to long—term memory,” Bai said.
The researchers found that ECGC boosts the production of neural
progenitor cells, which like stem cells can adapt, or differentiate, into
various types of cells.
The team then used laboratory mice to discover if this increased
cell production gave an advantage to memory or spatial learning.
“We ran tests on two groups of mice, one which had imbibed ECGC
and a control group,” Bai said in a statement.
The mice were trained for three days to find a visible platform in
their maze. Then they were trained for seven days to find a hidden platform.
Researchers found that the ECGC treated mice required less time to
find the hidden platform. Overall the results revealed that EGCG enhances
learning and memory by improving object recognition and spatial memory.
“We have shown that the organic chemical EGCG acts directly to
increase the production of neural progenitor cells, both in glass tests and in
mice,” Bai said.
The study was published in Molecular Nutrition and Food Research.
Warren Buffet-best 30-second mind in the world
'He has the best 30-second mind in the world. He goes from A to Z in one move. He sees the essence of everything before you even finish the sentence'. This is indeed a great complement to give to someone. And if it comes from Warren Buffett, you have to just sit up and take notice. Yes, that's correct. This tribute has indeed been paid by the world's most successful investor. And to none other than Buffett's business partner, Charlie Munger. Now, you wouldn't have heard of Munger as much as Warren Buffett. But make no mistake. The hands that made Berkshire Hathaway were as much Munger's as Buffett's. In fact, even Buffett freely admits that Charlie Munger has been one of the biggest influences on his life.
So, what is the philosophy that Munger lives by? Well, he believes that one need not be a genius in order to think better than most human beings. Developing certain thinking habits can also do the trick. And these habits are nothing but 'Big Ideas' from fields as varied as physics and psychology. The upshot is that whenever one is confronted with a problem, one can dig into his mental resources and find the ideas and models that are best suited to solving the underlying problem. And here's the real clincher. As per Munger, there are only 3-4 big ideas in any discipline and hence, most of them can be easily learned and remembered.
Insightful, isn't it? The good news is that you don't have to run helter-skelter to prepare a list of the big ideas yourself. Munger has been kind enough in doing so and the outcome has been a gem of a book titled 'Poor Charlie's Almanack'. It contains not only most of the big ideas that Munger uses to solve problems but also interesting anecdotes and speeches that he has given over the years.
As per us, full justice to this book cannot be done by reading it just once and then forgetting about it forever. Instead, the person who wants to extract the real benefit should take in the wisdom that lies in those pages slowly, one page at a time. Efforts should be made to make the book one's lifelong companion. And a strong improvement in the thinking process is all but guaranteed.
it is difficult to miss the role of migration in the post-liberalisation economic strategy.
Prior to the reforms of 1991, addressing regional disparities had
a prominent place in economic policy. Industries were regularly given incentives
to move to backward areas. After the reforms, these incentives disappeared from
the policy discourse. Instead, States competed with each other to attract
investment by offering incentives to set up industries in their most advanced
sites.
As a result the more developed parts of the country developed
further, even as the less developed regions remained largely where they were.
Labour from the less developed regions then had necessarily to
move to the more developed regions in search of work. This migration was not
confined merely to the people from the poorer regions of the State moving to
relatively nearby urban centres, but to migration across much larger distances
such as from the North-East of the country to southern cities.
Identity politics
It is possible to provide a positive spin to this large-scale
migration across the country. The fact that Indians can gain employment in any
part of the country does strengthen the idea of India. It also improves the
prospects of our large cities becoming multi-cultural centres. And as migrant
workers send a part of their wages back home, it helps a transfer of resources
from the more prosperous parts of the country to the slower growing regions.
This idyllic picture is, however, blurred by at least two other
features of the last two decades and more. First, the terms of employment in the
post-liberalisation era have been marked by greater uncertainties. Rather than
the long-term career options that were the ideal in the years before 1991, the
focus is now on short-term employment.
Moving up the career ladder is to be done by crossing over to more
lucrative jobs. The high attrition rates do not allow much space for stable
workplace institutions, including trade unions. The migrant workers then live in
an atmosphere of temporariness with few local institutions they can turn to in
times of acute distress.
Second, and arguably more important, the political ethos that has
emerged over the last three decades is quite inconsistent with large-scale
migration across the country.
Identity politics has become the lingua-franca of the political
space. Ideological battles are often based on implying one identity to be
greater than another. Political battles are then largely, if not entirely, a
matter pitting religious identities versus caste identities versus class
identities versus regional and language identities.
And as politics has become
more competitive, the reliance on identity politics has only increased.
Easy targets
Migrant workers are the easy target of this identity crossfire.
The numbers are clearly stacked against them. Even when migrant workers are a
majority of a city’s workforce, each regional group can be targeted separately.
The riots in Assam were sought to be countered by mobilisation of other
minorities in Mumbai.
This was, in turn, countered by Raj Thackeray mobilising the
majority in a counter-rally and using that occasion to target other regional
minorities from Bihar in Mumbai. It is then no surprise that at the first signs
of social tensions migrant workers have no option but to pack up and leave.
Ironically enough, the conflict between the political and the
economic over the last three decades has only served to further strengthen
identity politics. As workers move across the country into environments where
local institutions, at best, ignore them, they have few options other than
creating institutions based on their own regional identities. This provides an
ideal situation for politicians who thrive on identity politics to practise
their craft. If workers from State A are threatened in State B, politicians in
State A can threaten to retaliate against workers from State B.
With identity politics feeding on the uncertainties of migrant
workers it would be futile to expect the mismatch between a unified national
economy and local political expediencies to be corrected by steps in the
political space. It may be much more useful to bring the goal of reducing
regional economic disparities back to the centre stage of policy making.
Anyone who saw the fear in the eyes of young men from the
North-East pushing themselves into packed, moving special trains on a
three-and-a-half-day journey from Bangalore towards a trouble-torn Assam, even
though there wasn’t a single incident of violence in the southern city, will
surely recognise that we need a much more serious response than controlling the
Internet.
(The author is Professor, School of Social Science, National
Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore)
Tap into Google Maps to get directions and check traffic status
Source: The Hindu
Google Maps enthusiasts are in for a treat.
From Wednesday noon, commuters in India get turn-by-turn,
voice-guided directions, using the Google Maps Navigation. In addition, if
you’re living in Bangalore, Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai, Pune and Hyderabad,
you’ll find that a new advanced feature just got activated on your maps menu —
live traffic updates.
Both services provide real-time information free on smartphones
running on Android 2.2 (or later). Traffic updates are also accessible through
desktop browsers. However, the data relies only on crowd-sourced information
from Android phones to provide live updates on the average speed of vehicles on
major roads.
Tech forums had been abuzz with news on a likely announcement on
maps when Google Inc made the formal announcement here. The service, which is
available in 40 languages in 74 countries, is now offered only in English.
However, the announcement of upcoming directions (in the navigation service) is
in a “friendly, familiar Indian accent,” according to Darren Baker, product
manager for Google Maps. India is “a dynamic and fast-growing market for online
map services.”
The Internet-connected GPS navigation service draws on Google’s
search and voice search capabilities. Besides announcing simple ‘right and left’
directions, the service offers layers that give one en route information on
popular landmarks, restaurants, ATMs or petrol bunks. Another advantage is that
since the data is accessed through Google’s mapping services, there is no need
for manual updates.
Google Maps users in the select cities, through desktop browsers,
can view real-time traffic updates for major roads by enabling the ‘traffic’
layer. Another feature allows one to see ‘typical’ traffic conditions at a given
time, on a given day, by referencing historic data. Traffic information is
displayed in a simple readable colour scheme, indicating various speeds of the
vehicles .
But here’s the catch: this live feed, used by Google’s algorithms
to predict traffic situations, is based on information gathered from Android
phones that may be travelling along that particular route. Given the low
smartphone penetration in India and that getting data from these phones will
also require Android users to give permission to share their GPS data, this
information may not be as ‘reliable’ or ‘accurate’ as Google proposes.
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Hotel Industry: The overall hotel rates in the country saw a 12 per cent rise during the first six months of the year. This was due to a surge in demand from domestic travellers as overseas destinations became more expensive, according to the latest Hotels Price Index (HPI) study done by Hotels.com.
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Grand Strategy for India 2020 and Beyond
2012
ISBN: 978-81-8274-657-2
Price: Rs. 995/- []
About the Book
This volume presents perspectives on cross-cutting issues of importance to India’s grand strategy in the second decade of the 21st century.Twenty-five specialists drawn from a wide variety of backgrounds provide incisive arguments for framing grand strategy in a complex world. Authors provide expert perspectives on wide ranging security concerns including India’s domestic socio-economic concerns; need for reforms in military institutions; India’s regional and global foreign policy; and global commons issues. The volume also addresses emerging security threats such as left wing extremism, international terrorism, climate change and energy security, and the impact of these issue areas in framing of strategy for India.
The authors in this volume address the following important questions: What might India do to build a cohesive and peaceful domestic order in the coming decades? What should be India's China and Pakistan strategy? How could India foster a consensus on the global commons that serve India’s interests and values? What strategic framework will optimise India’s efforts to foster a stable and peaceful neighbourhood?
Contents
ForewordAcknowledgements
Contributors
Introduction
1. Grand Strategy for the First Half of the 21st Century
-- K. Subrahmanyam
2. Strategic Challenges and Risks in a Globalising World: An Indian Perspective
-- N.S. Sisodia
3. The Global Commons and India’s National Security Strategy
-- Kanti Bajpai
4. Grand Ideology, Bland Strategy
-- Rahul Sagar
5. Reforming the Military Institutions and National Security Strategy
-- Rumel Dahiya
6. The Maritime Dimension in India’s National Strategy
-- Sarabjeet Singh Parmar
7. Left Wing Extremism—Challenges and Approach
-- Vivek Chadha
8. Thinking about Counter Terrorism in India’s National Strategy
-- S. Kalyanaraman
9. International Terrorism and National Security Strategy
-- Deepa Prakash
10. Nuclear Weapons and India’s National Security Strategy
-- Rajesh Basrur
11. Nuclear Doctrine and Conflict
-- Ali Ahmed
12. Strategic Implications of Human Capital Today
-- G. Balatchandirane
13. Economic Policy Dimensions of India’s International Strategy
-- Ajay Shah
14. Contemporary Health Security Challenges, and National Strategies
-- Rajib Dasgupta
15. South Asia in India’s National Security Strategy
-- Arvind Gupta
16. A Note on the China-India-US Triangle and India’s Strategy
-- Tanvi Madan
17. Dealing with the Endgame: India and the Af-Pak Puzzle
-- Rudra Chaudhuri
18. Nation Building in Afghanistan and India’s National Strategy
-- Shanthie Mariet D’Souza
19. Russia in India’s National Strategy
-- Smita Purushottam
20. Europe in Indian Strategy
-- Dhruva Jaishankar
21. One World 2020: A Decade-long Vision for India’s Relations with the United Nations
-- Manu Bhagavan
22. India and United Nations Peacekeeping: A 2020 Perspective
-- Satish Nambiar
23. Energy in India’s National Security Strategy
-- Devika Sharma
24. Climate Change and India’s National Strategy
-- Sandeep Sengupta
25. Water Diplomacy and India’s National Strategy
-- Medha Bisht
Index
About the Editors
Krishnappa Venkatshamy
Research Fellow, Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA). His research interests include India’s grand strategy, global governance, security politics of Israel and comparative strategic cultures. His recent publications include- Global Power Shifts and Strategic Transition in Asia (ed.), Academic Foundation, 2009, India’s Grand Strategic Thought and Practice*(ed.), Routledge, (forthcoming November 2012). He previously led the IDSA National Strategy Project (INSP). He is currently leading the Strategic Trends 2050 Project, an interdisciplinary study of long-term strategic futures, sponsored by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
Princy George
Research Associate at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) and works with the Africa, Latin America, Caribbean and UN Centre and the IDSA National Strategy Project. Her current research focuses on the recent Arab revolutions, and the impacts of these on the region and the Western Sahel states. Her other research interests include India’s grand strategy and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
About the Contributors
Ali Ahmed, Assistant Professor at the Nelson Mandela Center for Peace and Conflict Resolution at Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi
Kanti Bajpai, Teaches at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore
G. Balatchandirane, Teaches economic history at the Department of East Asian Studies, University of Delhi
Rajesh M. Basrur, Senior Fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies
Manu Bhagavan, Associate Professor in the Department of History, Hunter College and the Graduate Center, the City University of New York
Medha Bisht, Associate Fellow at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses
Vivek Chadha, Research Fellow at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses
Rudra Chaudhuri, Lecturer (South Asian Security and Strategic Studies) at the Department of War Studies and the India Institute, King’s College London
Rumel Dahiya, Deputy Director-General of the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses
Rajib Dasgupta, Associate Professor at the Center of Social Medicine & Community Health, Jawaharlal Nehru University
Shanthie Mariet D’Souza, Research Fellow at the Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore
Arvind Gupta, Director General of the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses
Dhruva Jaishankar, Program Officer with the Asia Program of the German Marshall Fund of the United States in Washington DC
S. Kalyanraman, Research Fellow at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses
Tanvi Madan, Doctoral candidate of Public Policy at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin
Satish Nambiar, Distinguished Fellow at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses
Sarabjeet Singh Parmar, Research Fellow at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses
Deepa Prakash, Instructor of Political Science at Depauw University, Indiana
Smita Purushottam, India’s Ambassador to Venezuela
Rahul Sagar, Assistant Professor in the Department of Politics at Princeton University
Sandeep Sengupta, Doctoral candidate in International Relations at Oxford University
Ajay Shah, Co-leads the Macro/Finance Group at the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, New Delhi
Devika Sharma, Assistant Professor at the Department of Political Science, University of Delhi
N.S. Sisodia, Former Director-General of the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses
K. Subrahmanyam, Former Director of the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses
On the three National Holidays
This is for information of the
general public that the State Government is pleased to permit all the Shops and
Commercial Establishments to exercise the option of keeping their shops and
commercial establishments closed on the three National Holidays i.e on
26th January, 15th August and 2nd October
throughout the State with immediate effect.
(Press Release from Labour Department, Government of Sikkim)thru IPR
Prisoners attending a convocation ceremony
Ajit Solanki/Associated Press
Prisoners attending a convocation ceremony at the central jail in
Ahmedabad, Gujarat. Annamalai University awarded diploma and degree certificates
to 79 prisoners, who successfully completed courses through its distance
learning program.
The banking industry will need to hire 9-11 lakh employees
The banking industry will need to hire 9-11 lakh employees over the next five years, according to a report by Boston Consulting Group.
The banking sector is expected to grow at approximately 20 per cent over the next decade and will need major induction of talent, a significant part of which is to replace vacancies arising due to retirements in public sector banks. At the current rate of attrition, the industry will need to hire over four lakh more people.
The government had to forgo revenue of Rs 51,292 crore in 2011-12 on account of deductions given to corporate taxpayers. Units located in SEZs, charitable trusts and institutions, infrastructure facilities, telecommunications services, power generation and distribution companies, undertakings in the small scale sector, and housing projects comprised major taxpayers benefiting from the deductions-FM
Demand of special NEC benefit for North Bengal gains momentum
3 Sep, 2012, 05.11PM IST,
by Debasis Sarkar,ET Bureau
SILIGURI: The demand of Special North East Council(NEC) kind of benefits for northern part of West Bengal, adjoining to NEC state Assam or Sikkim, is gaining fresh momentum.
After commercial organizations in North Bengal, the newly formed administrative body for Darjeeling hills Gorkha Territorial Administration has also started demanding the same for Darjeeling hills.
A delegation of top commercial organizations of North Bengal has reiterated this demand straight to the CM Miss Mamata Banerjee. The CM has also committed to take it up with center.
On the other side, the demand has already been taken to the president Mr. Pranab Mukherjee and union Home Minister Mr. S K Shinde by GTA Chairman Mr. Bimal Gurung.
Designed initially for the North Eastern states, the policy offers Tax Holiday, Capital Subsidy, transportation subsidy or many other benefits to new entrepreneurs investing in these industrially backward states.
As the youngest member of NEC, Sikkim can offer these benefits since 2002. In 1996, the Centre adopted a policy to earmark at least 10% of annual budgets of all central ministers to be utilized in northeastern states.
"Despite not being within North East region, with similar socio-economy and physical characteristics, North Bengal deserves similar benefits," said Mr. S. Bose, General Secretary, Siliguri Marchent's Association. Mr. R G Jajodia, Spokesman CII NB Chapter also echoed the same.
"We have requested CM Miss Mamata Banerjee to explore the possibilities of getting the benefits for north Bengal that can facilitate establishment of big industries, create job here and in turn minimize the prevailing socio political unrests," said Mr. Jajodia.
"We have met the President and Union Home Minister to demand these benefits especially for Darjeeling under GTA," said Roshan Giri, GTA Executive member. The decade old demand of North Bengal commercial arena could not attract the attention of Mr. Pranab Mukherjee during his Finance Ministership. "It is not possible," he said straight when asked by ET earlier at Siliguri.
Monday, September 3, 2012
Tibet to receive 10 million tourists this year
(Xinhua)
LHASA -- Southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region is expected to receive a record 10 million-plus tourists this year, a local tourism official said Monday.
These tourists will bring revenue of 12 billion yuan ($1.89 billion), or 17 percent of the region's gross domestic product, said Yu Yungui, head of the Communist Party committee of the region's tourism bureau.
Yu said more than 7 million domestic or foreign tourists visited Tibet from January to August, up more than 25 percent year on year. Tourism revenue over the past eight months jumped 30 percent year on year to 7.5 billion yuan.
Yu attributed the boom to tour activities organized this year. Such activities have run under the themes of Tibetan culture and scenic beauty, such as mountains, snowy landscapes and sunshine.
Large-scale advertising and various festivals, such as Tibetan New Year, have also helped attract tourists, he said.
Tibet is situated on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, an area predominantly populated by ethnic Tibetans and prevailed by Buddhist culture. Signature tourist destinations include the world's highest peak Mount Qomolangma, the sacred lake Nam Co and Tibetan Buddhism heritage sites such as Potala Palace, Jokhang Temple and Zhaxi Lhunbo Monastery.
Nearly 300,000 people in the region are employed in the tourism sector with fixed assets exceeding 25 billion yuan, according to government figures.
The number of tourists traveling to Tibet has been growing by an average of 30 percent annually in the past five years. Last year, more than 8.69 million people visited Tibet, bringing in tourism revenue of 9.7 billion yuan. Authorities aim to see 15 million tourists annually by 2015.
| Database of Traditional Water Resources | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
According to Third Minor Irrigation Census conducted by Ministry of Water Resources with reference year 2000-2001, the number of water bodies identified in the country are 5.56 lakh. The total number of water bodies not in use are 85807. Out of 5.56 lakh water bodies, there are 2.39lakh public owned water bodies. The State-wise details of public owned water bodies are given below:-
State-wise details of Public owned Water Bodies (as per 3rd Minor Irrigation Census conducted by Ministry of Water resources with reference year 2000-2001)
Government had approved a State Sector Scheme for Repair, Renovation & Restoration (RRR) of water bodies with two components (i) one with external assistance with an outlay of Rs. 1500 crore and (ii) another with domestic support with an outlay of Rs. 1250 crore for implementation during XI Five Year Plan period.
Under the scheme of RRR of water bodies with external assistance, 75% is loan taken by Government of India from the World Bank and is passed on to the concerned States on back to back basis and is to be repaid by the States. The balance 25% loan is taken as liability of Government of India and passed on as additional central assistance (100% grant) to the States for the projects.
Under the scheme of RRR of water bodies with domestic support, 90% of the project cost is provided as central grant by the Government of India to the projects in the States of North-Eastern Region, hilly States namely, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand and undividedKoraput, Bolangir and Kalahandi (KBK) districts of Odisha and the projects benefitting tribal areas, drought prone areas and naxal affected areas and 10% of the project cost is provided by the respective State Governments. The projects benefitting other areas of the States are eligible for 25% central assistance (grant).
This information was given by the Minister of State for Water Resources and Minority AffairsShri Vincent H. Pala in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.
…
MA/VN
(Release ID :87229) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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